Frequently Asked Questions
If signing up for a group course, we suggest that you confirm that you can join every session of that course before signing up. We do not offer makeup classes; however, we do offer one-time drop-in classes for many of our Good Manners and AKC Puppy courses. If one is available, it will be listed on the group training schedule page on our website. You are welcome to sign up and reserve a spot for a drop-in that is the same session that you will be missing. Please be aware that you will still need to complete all classes to graduate on the final week of your course. Otherwise, you’re welcome to come and practice, work on, and earn many of your week 6 stars and help celebrate your classmate’s success. Then, you can also sign up for a week a 6 drop-in once your previously missed classes have been completed. The more practice, the better you and your dog will become anyway!
To board or to participate in R.E.P.S. your puppy must be 3 months old and be current on their puppy shots (Distemper, Parvo & Lepto). Rabies is required at the age of 16 weeks.
For R.E.P.S. and Boarding:
Distemper, Parvo, Rabies and Lepto shots are required. These shots must have been given at least 2 weeks prior to arrival to DogJoy.
Your dog must also have record of a clean Fecal within the last year on file at all times.
All dogs are required to be on a flea & tick preventative. Please do not apply topical flea treatments to your dog’s back immediately prior to bringing them to DogJoy.
Bordetella is not required, but if it is given, we ask that you wait at least 7 days before bringing your dog to DogJoy.
We allow intact males to stay with us.
Sorry, at this time we are unable to accommodate intact females over the age of 6 months. All females must be spayed by the age of 6 months.
If your dog is intact we take special precautions to make sure they are grouped with other intact dogs of the same sex or with neutered animals only. There are additional fees for intact animals over the age of 6 months (+$5/day for R.E.P.S., +$10/night for boarding).
No, we do not discount any of the attention, love, focus or training reinforcement of any dog in our care.
YES and NO…
YES:
A Tryout Day is required for any dog that is looking to come for any of our “social” services – R.E.P.S. or Stay & Play Boarding. Since we have a social environment here at DogJoy, we want to make sure that your dog enjoys these types of interactions safely. We want your dog to have fun and enjoy his stay away from home playing with the staff and with the other dogs in our large play yards, but to also be able to relax in their private room during nap time and at night, if they are boarding with us. We want to make sure that we are all a good fit for each other!
We also ask that we see your dog weekly for R.E.P.S., or at the very least monthly, so that everyone stays familiar to each other and to the routines. New dogs to DogJoy can earn their membership after their initial 90 days of at least weekly visits, which comes with significant discounts on R.E.P.S., boarding and much more!
If your dog has not visited DogJoy in 90 days or more your dog will need to come in for a new Tryout Day so that we can observe your dog’s current behaviors. We all know behavior is constantly changing, as well as the environment and the people in it. Therefore, it’s important to be sure that your dog will be comfortable with us and be a good fit with existing staff and current canine participants. We appreciate your support to maintain this continuity for everyone.
NO:
There is no Tryout Day required for dogs that are coming for Hotel Boarding, though we strongly suggest that you bring your dog to visit ahead of a boarding stay so that they become familiar with DogJoy and it can be their home away from home. This causes much lower levels of stress for your dog.
Enrichment activity options are available for Hotel boarders, to make sure that they are mentally and physically exercised as well!
Yes, $65 for neutered dogs, $70 for intact dogs. A limited number of tryout spots are offered, so please schedule ahead of time. Please have your dog here by 9am and they can be picked up anytime after 5pm. Your dog’s tryout day is a practice R.E.P.S day. We will get to know how your dog responds to staff, how they get along with other dogs and how they relax during downtime. We start by building a small group of similar sized and like-tempered dogs for your dog to interact with and then go from there, depending your dog’s needs. We repeat that same thing during evening hours, when we tend to see dogs loosen up and get even more comfortable with the routine, the staff, and the other dogs. Pictures of your dog’s tryout day are taken and added to their file. A custom report card is also emailed out to you so that you know exactly how your dog’s day went, as well as any suggestions that we might have to help your dog be more comfortable here in the future. We want every dog to love being here with us and make DogJoy their second home!
We are a training facility first and can absolutely help with aggressive dogs. We’ve worked with thousands of owners and their dogs and we would love to help you as well!
Check out our Reactive Rover classes!
We also offer Hotel Boarding for dogs that prefer more space to themselves, and like to keep distance from other dogs, or people. These spaces are limited, so please speak to us ahead of time.
We require a 50% deposit for boarding reservations made during the following major holidays, busy seasons and festival times. Deposits are refundable as a credit to your account if your reservation is changed or canceled at least 7 days prior to your scheduled arrival.
- Spring Break/SXSW
- Easter Weekend
- Memorial Day Weekend
- Independence Day
- Labor Day Weekend
- ACL Festival
- Nov 15 – Jan 15 (“Holiday Season” – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s)
Yes, day services (R.E.P.S.) are offered to friendly, social dogs who pass their Tryout Day.
Want to bring your dog to R.E.P.S.? Fill out a Tryout Application and start the process!
DogJoy membership is offered to those dogs after 90 days of successful weekly visits to R.E.P.S.
Drop-off Times:
- Monday
CLOSED (but we offer BY APPOINTMENT ONLY options 9:00am – 11:45am & 4:00pm – 6:45pm) - Tuesday – Friday
7:00am – 11:00am
*4:00pm – 6:45pm
*optional evening boarding drop-off, though we encourage morning drop-offs for tired, happy, sleepy dogs, and dogs with boarding add-ons. - Saturday
9:00am – 11:45am - Sunday
CLOSED (but we offer BY APPOINTMENT ONLY between 4:00pm – 6:00pm)
Please keep us updated on your correct pick-up/drop-off times. We plan your dog’s play time and other fun stuff around their drop-off/pick-up schedule so that they get the most out of their stay with us.
You are welcome to bring light blankets or towels that can be fully washed in a regular sized washing machine. We will not accept large stuffed beds or foam beds. We are on a ranch and dogs gets muddy, dirty, wet and slobbery sometimes. At times, we need to be able to wash their bedding.
We can provide a comfy elevated bed at your request, and elevated beds are included in all of our boarding add-on packages. We can also provide blankets and/or towels to dogs that do not chew bedding, in order to make them comfy, so there is no need to pack more if you do not care to.
We require a Tryout for every new dog that has never attended R.E.P.S. or Stay & Play Boarding at DogJoy before, or if your dog has not been to DogJoy for R.E.P.S. or Stay & Play Boarding in over 90 days.
A Tryout is NOT required for Hotel Boarding.
DogJoy no longer offers board & train options, as we believe that training is most successful with the involvement of a dog’s family members. We encourage you to come have fun, too!
Like other behaviors we reinforce while you dog is with us, we reinforce potty training as well, by taking the dogs out often, as well as providing outdoor patios attached to every single room that have turf areas with drainage systems underneath so that they are “pottying outside on grass”. We rarely have dogs that have accidents. However, if your dog needs to start over and learn potty training, they will need a lot more one-on-one attention to avoid accidents in their room or in the lodge. Potty training can take months, sometimes years, to be fully complete and reliable. Potty training is better left up to the person that spends the most time with your pup, and with the assistance of a trainer that can help you problem solve, on occasion, during the long process.
We prefer that you leave any toys or chews that could be a choking hazard, for your dog or any other dog, at home. Most dogs are happy to just rest during naptime or during the night, since they played so hard during the day. If you still feel your dog needs something he can chew on, we always have yummy, stuffed frozen Kongs that can be added on to your dog’s stay at your request. We do not allow Kongs from home (they get mixed up with ours), rope toys, tennis balls, or any other chew item that a dog can swallow and choke on when in their room unattended.
Yes, we sure do! If medication needs to be given, for safety reasons, it MUST be in the original bottle for easy identification, labeled with what the medication is and the dosage required, and have your dog’s first and last name written on the bottle. Also include a measuring device, if needed. There is a small fee per administration for meds given between the hours of 7am – 7pm. If medication needs to be given outside of those hours, please be sure to contact us and schedule that ahead of time so that we can have staff scheduled to accommodate your needs. There is a $15 administration fee per dog/night for meds that need to be given during closed hours.
If you are sending supplements or over the counter meds with your dog, please separate your dog’s food into individual servings and include the supplement(s)/OTCs in each bag, otherwise there will be a fee for each administration. Please label the bags with your dog’s name and AM or PM so we are sure to give them the correct servings.
If you need us to administer OTC meds separately please bring them in the original bottle for ease of identification. Fee does apply.
If it is not a holiday boarding, a minimum of a 72-hour notice is required for cancellation of your reservation. If less than a 72-hour notice is given, then you are responsible for 1/2 of the nights that were reserved or $75, whichever is less. If the reservation was for one night then you are required to pay for that night.
If a holiday boarding reservation needs to be canceled or changed, then it must be done at least 7 days before your scheduled arrival in order to receive your 50% deposit back as a credit on your account. If canceled, or if changes need to be made with less than a 72-hour notice, then the reservation that was made must be paid in full for having held the spot.